The present invention discloses a power converter and controller system for ignition systems for internal combustion engines, particularly high power, high energy capacitive discharge ignition systems for multi cylinder engines. Such ignition is essential to the operation of high efficiency internal combustion engines using the more difficult to ignite dilute mixtures, such as lean mixtures, high residual or high EGR mixtures, and fuel-air mixtures of difficult-to ignite fuels such as alcohol fuels. Such high power high energy ignition delivers power to the mixture at the rate of hundreds of watts versus tens of watts for more conventional ignitions. Total useful energy delivery to the mixture, even under high air-flow conditions, ranges from about fifty millijoules to three hundred millijoules, versus five to thirty millijoules for conventional ignitions.
While the power converter and controller system disclosed herein can be used with any ignition system which requires energy storage capacitor means to be charged to a high voltage from battery voltage, and for delivering the energy to a spark plug in a controlled way, preferably the system is used with hybrid ignition disclosed in patent application PCT/US94/12866 (with U.S. a designated country). The ignition control system is based in part in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,688,538 and 5,131,376. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,677,960, 4,774,914, 4,814,925, 4,868,730, and 5,207,208 may be relevant to the ignition application of the invention. The said applications and all said patents are of common assignment with this application. Reference to the above cited applications and patents is sometimes made herein by simply listing the last three numerals of the number as in patent application '632, '866, and patent '538, '376, '960, '914, '925, '730, and '208.